FRANKFURT, July 31 (Reuters) - German fashion house Hugo
Boss said tight stock management and fewer discounts
drove up profits and that shoppers in the United States helped
offset a still-challenging market in mainland China.

The company's second-quarter rise in sales and profit are
further evidence of a rebound in the luxury sector after rivals
LVMH and Kering reported accelerating sales
growth and higher profits this month.

In the past year China's luxury market, which had been the
industry's main growth driver, has been hit by a slower economy
and the government's crackdown on the country's tradition of
gift-giving to facilitate transactions and deals.

Hugo Boss's Chief Financial Officer Mark Langer said the
number of people visiting malls in some smaller cities in China
had fallen by as much as 20 percent, and that the group had to
bring the quality of its mainland stores up to those in Hong
Kong.

The fashion house said that in the United States, its
biggest market, and Europe, it benefited from tourists from Asia
and Latin America spending money on its suits and shirts.
Continued...